Lota, Chile

“We the mortals touch the metals, the wind, the ocean shores, the stones, know-ing they will go on, inert or burning, and I was discovering, naming all the these things: it was my destiny to love and say goodbye.” Pablo Neruda

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Lota, Chile

The Park“In many ways, I think Lota’s appeal lies in combining the exotic and the familiar. With its hills and dramatic ocean vistas, the landscape was entirely unlike the farmland and forests I’m accustomed to, yet the plants and trees seemed almost Ontarian. The culture, too, was surprisingly familiar, but at the same time different from ours in ways that are impossible to describe.“Lota is not a typical tourist city; rather, it’s somewhere people live rather than somewhere people visit. This lack of pretension made the city feel like home.”

–Lauren Miles, IwB

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“Lota is made of complexities; socially, economically and physically. It is a beauti-ful, colourful city with breathtaking views created by the ocean, the hilly topogra-phy and the relationship between architecture and nature.” –Miki Seltzer, IwB

“While the natural resources have provided Lota with its main source of economic activity, the same environment has largely dictated the location of settlement with-in Lota and has contributed to its isolation from the surrounding cities within the region.” –Robert Giusti, IwB

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The OceanThe waters around Lota have a wide variety of fish species, although they have been depleted by overfishing. If properly administered, fishing is a renewable resource and can offer employment to Lotinos and Lotinas for years to come.

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“Lotinos and Lotinas are a caring, proud, and welcom-ing group of people, and the city itself is beautiful, vibrant, and full of poten-tial.” –Apostolo Zeno, IwB

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The Home

Although the built environment dominates much of the land-scape, the variation in elevation provides stunning views towards the ocean and overlooking the city itself.

The legacy of over a century of coal mining remains at the core of the city’s identity, and more than a decade after the closure, many Lo-tinos still see themselves as los mineros (miners).

List of PhotosPhotography by: Michelle Hotchin & Jane Ma

1 Lota Point2 Parc Lota3 Parc Lota4 Lota Point5 Lota Bajor6 Block 37 Lota Bajor8 Apartment9 ENACAR 6

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Thanks to...

www.worldhouse.cawww.georgebrown.ca

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